Comments on: Is Rick Berman Holding Up New Trek?

By: Scott Gammans

Scott Gammans — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 02:30:00 +0000

Well I, for one, would like to see the script for “Star Trek: The Beginning” turned into book form. Pocket Books, are you listening??

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 21:01:50 +0000

Yeah, actually, I think there’s more blame to go to Paramount than Berman on the “downfall” of Trek in recent years. Berman wrote some really good episodes and did some great stuff for Star Trek, especially in his early days running the show. Enterprise…was just a failure.

Actually, one thing I care about moreso than Berman is everyone ELSE who has been working on Star Trek for the past 15 years–the art directors, production designers,etc. I can imagine they might feel a little shoved aside if there is literally no one who made the shows working on the next movie. It would be a little weird if they push everyone aside, the star trek family was more than just the cast and producers, it was everyone who worked on TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 12:43:45 +0000

@Arman. I know, I was actually replying to Wowbaggers post.

By: MichaelT

MichaelT — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:00:24 +0000

It’s really easy to look at the timing of things and say “Hey…. a conspiracy… hmmm.” Maybe they are waiting for his contract to expire… but it’s just likely a coincidence. If they, CBSParamount, were that worried about him and gung-ho to get XI rolling without him, they could simply buy out the remainder of his contract.
And I seriously doubt that a new TV series is anything more than wishful thinking for Wang and Sirtis right now. The studio wil wait for the movie response before gearing up for Star Trek: (insert subhead name here)

By: Arman Borghem

Arman Borghem — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:21:40 +0000

^No, he didn’t. That was Brannon Braga (and Ronald D. Moore).

Rick Berman always were more of a producer-type, while Brannon Braga was more active as a writer.

One can say many things about them both, but imo they gave us some of the best – and worst – of modern Trek.

By: Kreso

Kreso — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:42:40 +0000

Uhm, whell, he did write one of the best (and IMO The Best) ST episodes ever – All the Good Things…
Not that I want to defend him, or anything =)

By: Wowbagger

Wowbagger — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 03:07:34 +0000

I blame Braga for all Trek’s ills. Berman did too much good to be at fault for much more than failing to control Braga’s generally awful writing.

As an aside, I can’t help but read this article’s headline and think of New Coke.

By: Anthony Pascale

Anthony Pascale — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 02:51:09 +0000

Lets not turn this all into another ‘lets bash Berman’ fest

I agree that under Berman’s regime some of the best Trek ever happened. Unfortunatley most of that was in the early 90s. So it is time for a new regime.

some other sites were covering this rumor and I thought I should add my two cents and the info I have gathered.

bottom line is that this rumor is irrelevent even if it is true. Berman’s time is over, Abrams time is beginning. Berman did good things, and has made millions off Trek so no need to shed any tears for him

By: Spock34

Spock34 — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 02:08:30 +0000

You neglect the fact that Berman did a lot for star trek, right, wrong or in different, 4 series & 4 movies. STNG was real good seasons 3-6. DS( was different, but cutting edge, in the begining. Unfortantly the DS9 became a comic book soap opera, the work years. Voyager was star trek lite and enterprise became unwatchable. As for the movies ST-VII was worse then ST-I. ST-VII was great & STIX & X where 2 hour ST-NG episodes.

Berman ran his course and after 20 years its time for him to go.

Star trek enhanced & ST-XI is breathing new life into the franchise. Maybe after the movie there could be a spin off series based on the orignal series using new actors to play the roles. Don’t expect Matt Damon to play Kirk on a weekly basis. But if the show is well written and hard worked like ST-TOS years 1 & 2, and about 5 episodes of year 3. Then the show will be a grea t success.

FYI – this was important to answer this topic and look towards the future of Trek.

Fan for over thirty years.

By: Magic_Al

Magic_Al — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 01:34:50 +0000

My main beef with Berman was the straightjacket he purportedly put on the show’s composers, who seemed to toil under an edict that they NOT create the kinds of hummable leitmotifs heard on the original series and in the first 3 seasons of TNG when Roddenberry was in charge. (In fact, the instant of the baton passing from Gene to Rick is literally audible, coming mid-cliffhanger: the memorable “Borg” theme heard in TNG Season 3’s “The Best of Both Worlds Part I” is mercilessly squelched in Season 4’s “Part II”.) Ever after, such themes would be heard again only in brief moments of musical defiance or when a new composer was hired and scored an episode without first reading the memo. After a decade or so of Bermanized, theme-free underscoring, Trek was hour after hour of tuneless orchestral drone. The music got a bit more dynamic in later seasons of Voyager and in Enterprise, as the action quotient got ramped up in both shows, but the basic policy never changed. Great composers were at work the whole time, but they were denied the chance to do much more memorable work (not to mention the chance to sell a lot of soundtrack CDs) because Berman thought leitmotifs were cheesy, or something. So I do welcome the end of the Berman years on that score (pun oh so intended).